#580: Music for Your Mental Health 2 – R.I.P. Chester Bennington

GETTING MORE TALE #580: Music for Your Mental Health 2 – R.I.P. Chester Bennington
A followup to Record Store Tales Part 239: Music for Your Mental Health

 

No preaching, no lectures.  Just personal feelings, regarding another sad rock and roll suicide.

I wasn’t a Linkin Park fan, though I do own the Stone Temple Pilots EP.  That’s all irrelevant.  I’m a human being, and as a human being, I grieve the loss of one of our own.  I don’t know the personal battles that Chester Bennington fought.  Nor do I have to.  It’s none of my business.

Taking care of your mental health is just as important as taking care of your physical body.  You need both your mind and your body to survive.  Injuries and damage to your mental health can be hard to see, even for the one experiencing it.  There are resources out there, and there are people to talk to who can help.  It’s not necessarily easy to access all the help available and you may need help and guidance to navigate the system.  There are other human beings out there who love you.  Who need you.  There are even strangers willing to help.  People who have been through it and understand the pain you may be feeling.

We don’t live in an easy world, or even a friendly one.  It is easy to believe you are alone.  You are not.  You are never alone.  Chester Bennington was not alone, but whatever was killing him inside probably made him feel isolated and helpless.

As we mourn yet another great who went long before his time, please try to focus on your own well being.  There are other ways to deal with the hurt.  Chester Bennington was younger than I am, but he had enough.  Many people out there have had enough and don’t think they can take any more.  We are all human.  We have a tremendous ability to absorb pain but eventually it must be dealt with.  There is no shame in it.  You are not weak.  You are stronger than anyone who hasn’t dealt with what you deal with.  The stigma must end.  People who suffer from depression and other mental illnesses are not different or abnormal.  They are regular human beings just like you.  Maybe even more normal than you know.

Rest in peace Chester.

30 comments

  1. I’ve never been a fan, but I was really shocked when I saw this news appear yesterday evening. Even with the focus on mental health and wellbeing, there’s no preventing people losing their way in that kinda darkness. It must seem completely hopeless… regardless of who is around them. I can never begin to imagine where they were at.

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    1. This is all hearsay of course but an article I read today said that Chester never got over the death of Chris Cornell. It’s possible. I hate to speculate because it oversimplifies what Chester was really going through.

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      1. Yeah, I’d hate to simplify it, but from what I gather he’s been in a dark place (comments about criticism of the Linkin Park album), so I guess it’s possible that the impact of Cornell (and his birthday) was immeasurable. It’s difficult to appreciate the weight of things at that time. Another day the weight may have been manageable.

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  4. Very well put, Mike. It is so sad to see so many young people commit suicide. There is so much more understanding today of mental illness, but some people still don’t get the help they need. So sad.

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  5. The whole of Linkin Park was always there for me in my rough times, even my worst. Their lyrics moved me, comforted me, and even held a place in my heart. When I hear the news, I was both shocked and a bit in disbelief. I mean how could my favourite band loose a talented and loved singer? Having personally dealt with mental health and suicidal ideations, I know these journeys can be quite difficult. Sometimes even with support we can loose our self in the moment. I don’t think many of us can ever really get over depression, or escape our demons. Even trying to live with them can prove to be a real challenge. For those dealing with such stuff, all I ask is to stay strong, little by little. Continue getting support and try to find the good things in life.This is one musician I will definitely miss. Rest in peace.

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  8. Like you said, whether we are LP fans or otherwise is all irrelevant today. To get rid of the mental health stigma, educate people on what depression truly means, and reach out to the at-risk. Those are the important things. We’ve lost so many to depression and suicide, your heartfelt post genuinely means a lot.

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    1. Thank you Jade…I was telling my sometimes contributor Aaron that I am sick of writing R.I.P. posts. Something must change…I hope some good comes from Chester’s death. A spotlight on the issues perhaps.

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  9. The more we mainstream the idea of talking about emotional/mental well-being, the easier it will become to seek support when needed. There’s still so much shame about suffering in this way; I see it every working day. So well said, Mike. Well said.

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    1. I hope you’re right Bruce. I don’t know for sure but I suspect seeking help might be harder for males. All our lives we are told “Man up!” “Put your man pants on!” “Don’t cry like a little girl.” And that does a hell of a lot of damage.

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        3. I’m very glad to see that some employers take this kind of stuff seriously today.

          I’ve been very open about my own life, dealing with a lot of stress as the supporter of a person with uncontrolled seizures. It’s not easy no matter how much I used to try and convince myself that it “should” be. Then I learned to “stop shoulding myself”.

          If we have a very bad day and I need a rest, my bosses are very understanding. They don’t want me at work all distracted and exhausted. They’d rather me take the 24 hours to recharge and come back and for THAT I am so grateful.

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    1. Best advice I can give is practice practice practice. The more you stop yourself from saying things like “I should have done this or that,” you get better at it. The key really is to change the way you think and behave because you can’t just change how you “feel” directly.

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